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Roadside attractions: The derrick that made Alberta rich

The Story

"Leduc number one gave me an entire career," says retired roughneck Dan Claypool. In fact, on Feb. 13, 1947, the oil derrick gave all Alberta reason to celebrate. When it struck oil, the province's have-not status was suddenly history. "At that time, there wasn't any industry or jobs to speak of," Claypool explains in this 2006 clip. "Leduc number one opened it up where within the next several years many, many people moved in and picked up the jobs in the oil patch." Now those people come to see where history took place.

Did You know?

• Leduc number one sits on the grounds of the Canadian Petroleum Discovery Centre, which opened in 1997 to showcase Canada's oil industry to visitors. The derrick is all that remains of the original 1940's drilling rig. • The drilling of Leduc number one began in Nov. 1946 on a farm belonging to Mike Turta. Most members of the crew were pessimistic and felt the well would turn out to be yet another in a long line of dry holes.

• The well was shut down in 1974 after having produced some 50,300 cubic metres (320,000 barrels) of oil and 9 million cubic metres (320 million cubic feet) of natural gas.